The epilepsies comprise a common and devastating collection of disorders that affect about 1% of the U.S. population. This study is aimed at identifying one or more mutant genes that predispose individuals to juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and related forms of idiopathic generalized epilepsies. Large pedigrees continue to be identified throughout India in which there are at least four affected persons. Detailed history, neurological examination and EEG are being obtained and DNA isolated to perform a genomic screen for linkage/association analysis. Both model-based likelihood analyses and model-free analyses have been performed on the first pedigree in order to better define the disease as a genetic entity and to determine chromosomal locations of the genes involved. So far three chromosomal locations have been tentatively identified as suggestive of linkage. Further pedigrees are bing identified in order to confirm one or more of these findings.